Stormin’ Norman Stars

Zip Dobyns

We have a birth time for General H Norman Schwarzkopf,
thanks to Lois Rodden who sent to New Jersey for his birth certificate! Even
noon or dawn (with the Sun on the Ascendant) charts can be useful, and I
started with one set for 12 P.M. but the trouble with demonstrating its
usefulness in the present case is that I typed in noon and later realized that
with the automatic latitude, longitude and type of time which I now have in my
computer (thanks to the ACS atlases), the actual chart I got is for noon EDT
(11 A.M. EST). We can theorize that my unconscious led me to a useful chart or
that everything “works” in astrology but such experiences (which are not
uncommon) should at least make us more tentative and humble about insisting
that any one chart, technique or theory offers final “truth” and allows us to
disregard all others.

I have gathered a little information about Schwarzkopf’s
life, but not enough to do a proper rectification so I am thankful that this is
not needed. He was born on August 22, 1934 at 4:45 A.M. EDT in Trenton, NJ. He has two sisters. His father had the same name and I have not learned what
the H stands for. Norman adored his father who was a veteran of both World War
I and II, and was active in police work when not in military service. Norman
Senior was a founding commander of the New Jersey state police, in charge of
the investigation of the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby. Though this famous
crime occurred on March 1, 1932, before the birth of Norman Jr., his father was
still working on it through his early months. The baby’s body was found on May 12, 1932 and Bruno Hauptmann was arrested and jailed for the murder on September 28, 1934, not long after the birth of Norman Jr. At the time, Norman’s P Moon
was opposite his natal East Point-Mars-Pluto conjunction, trioctile Chiron,
quincunx Mercury and his Antivertex in a yod for a change in personal and
family activity, and semisextile Saturn, showing that his father could be
getting public attention. Hauptmann’s voice was recognized by Lindbergh, some
of the ransom money was found in his house, his ladder was used in the crime,
so he was convicted on mostly circumstantial evidence. The jury found him
guilty on February 2, 1935 and he was executed on April 3, 1936. P Mars moving over Pluto, quincunx Saturn, octile Chiron and moving into the octile to Neptune are some of the patterns in the chart of Norman Jr. which fit the stress affecting
him and his family. P Vesta also continued its square to the East Point and
Mars and moved into the square to Pluto, but it was also sextile Mercury and
trine Saturn.

Norman Sr. was a general in World War II and in 1942 he went
to Iran to organize their national police force, being separated from his
family for around three years. After the war, Norman Jr. was able to join his
father for six months and then the rest of the family joined them in Iran. Following the Iran assignment, the family moved with the father to several European
countries, so Norman Jr. went to school in Rome, Germany, and Switzerland, developing some of his language skills. He is said to have an IQ of 170 and was in the
top 10% of his West Point class when he graduated in 1956. His father died in
1958.

Norman Jr. served in Vietnam in 1965-6 and again in
1969-70. He received two purple hearts and three silver stars for his service
there, which included one episode on May 28, 1970 in which he risked his life in an especially heroic effort. In between these tours of duty, on July 6, 1968, he married his wife, a former airline stewardess. They have three
children. The family has moved to sixteen posts in the course of Norman’s military career. Later military service included acting as Deputy Task Force
Commander when the U.S. invaded Grenada on October 25, 1983. Norman attained the leadership of the Central Command on November 23, 1988, and was put in charge of Operation Desert Shield (and later Desert Storm) in August 1990.
The rest of the story to date has been on every TV in the country.

Major features in Schwarzkopf’s horoscope include a
Mercury-Sun conjunction in late Leo opposite Saturn in Aquarius and a cardinal
T-square involving a close East Point-Mars-Pluto conjunction in Cancer square
Jupiter-Vesta in Libra and opposite the Moon in Capricorn. Uranus in early
Taurus is in an out-of-sign trine to the Sun. The Moon holds a yod (double
quincunx) to Mercury and the Antivertex, trioctiles to Neptune and Chiron,
semisextiles to Saturn and Juno, and squares to Jupiter-Vesta and the MC-IC.
Chiron in Gemini squares Neptune in Virgo and both are in aspect to the
cardinal cross with octiles and trioctiles. Venus in Leo is conjunct the south
lunar node and square Uranus. Pallas in mid-Taurus is widely square the lunar
nodes but the aspect is made more important by the square held for years by the
progressed nodes to the midpoint of Uranus/Pallas. That is enough conflict for
any chart. Only the “family-oriented” asteroids are mostly harmonious. Juno,
the marriage asteroid, is trine Mercury and sextile Jupiter and Saturn. Ceres,
symbolizing our ability to “mother” or be nurtured, is sextile Neptune and
semisextile Chiron. Saturn does trine Vesta and Jupiter for work success but
it also has a challenging quincunx to the East Point-Mars-Pluto combination
which could simply show the periodic absences from home and family which are
required for military service. In about three years, Schwarzkopf will start a
long trine from progressed (P) Uranus to natal Sun and P Mars holds a trine to
P Uranus and later to natal Uranus for quite a few years. P Saturn trined
Vesta for years and holds a very long sextile to Juno since it will form its
station and go direct while still in the aspect. But, we have to acknowledge
that Schwarzkopf has handled a challenging chart with some skill. Military
service is one of the appropriate ways to manifest a “power-struggle” chart.

When I was originally working with the noon EDT chart, I was particularly fascinated to see Halley’s Comet progressed to that rather
arbitrary MC on the date the cease fire was official. P America is also there
on P Halley, and they are also on natal Halley in George Bush’s chart. Schwarzkopf’s
natal Halley is on his mean (average) north lunar node within one degree and
the true node is on his Ascendant within one degree. Halley is just over one
degree from the Ascendant in the first house and they are connected by the
north node of Mercury which is within one degree of both Ascendant and Halley.
Based on both their fiery tails as they approach the Sun and on experience from
watching them in horoscopes, comets seem to represent one of astrology’s fire
principles. In my experience, Chiron is like Jupiter. Icarus (which may be a
burned-out comet though it is now included with the asteroids) seems like a
mini-Sun. Some historical comets which preceded wars seem similar to Mars.
Halley was incredibly prominent in the horoscopes of the candidates for U.S. President
in 1988, so I am inclined to think it may be a Sun surrogate. I wrote about it
in The Mutable Dilemma and Asteroid-World during 1988, and have
continued to add it to the charts of people involved with fame and power, to
see whether it continued to be meaningful.

To repeat some of what has been previously presented, George
Bush had P Sun on P Halley when he was first elected Vice President of the U.S. Transiting (T) Halley was on his natal Sun when he was inaugurated for his second
term as VP, on his Washington Ascendant on “super Tuesday” when he swept the
southern primaries to assure himself the Republican nomination for the
Presidency in 1988, and back on that local Ascendant when he was inaugurated as
President in 1989.

Saddam Hussein has Halley stationary direct at 7 Leo 33
which puts it on Schwarzkopf’s P true nodes. Anything making a station becomes
more important. If Saddam’s birth time is accurate (a big “if”), Halley is in
a one minute square to his natal Sun and P Vesta will reach the permitted
one-degree orb to conjunct Halley in mid-June 1991. His P Moon trines Saturn
in April and reaches Sagittarius in May if the chart we received from the Near East is right. Though the data is highly questionable, the chart does seem to be
working. We should know by summer whether he will recover his power over his
people, which seems probable for at least a short time, or go out in a blaze of
violence.

On February 12, 1991, Halley surprised the astronomers by
suddenly out-gassing (getting brighter). That is a relatively infrequent
occurrence when a comet is receding from the Sun, and according to the March 2, 1991 issue of Science News, Halley set a new record. It was just retrograding
from 25 to 24 Leo at the time, conjunct Bush’s P Sun and north lunar node and
opposite his Mars-south node, but also sextile his Saturn and trine his
Ceres-Chiron. Halley was also conjunct Saddam’s Part of Death (again with that
caveat—if we have the right chart for him), and square his Mercury. It was
conjunct Schwarzkopf’s Mercury, opposite his Saturn, sextile his Vesta-P Sun,
quincunx his Moon, and semisextile East Point-Mars-Pluto. Was Halley telling
us to keep an eye on the stars, that the show was heating up?

There were an astonishing number of other angles in the noon (EDT) chart for Schwarzkopf including an Ascendant at 6 Scorpio which opposes
Saddam’s natal Sun. P Mercury was on the natal East Point and semisextile P
Ascendant. P East Point was opposite Ceres. P America was on natal MC and P
MC was on Winchester (our asteroids for guns) as well as trine natal Washington. P Washington was on the Vertex, opposing the Antivertex. P Venus was sextile
natal Antivertex and P Antivertex was square Uranus. You can see the danger of
rectifications based on a limited number of life events and the ease with which
astrologers can become confident that their chosen birth time is the “right”
one and the ease with which different birth times can be endorsed like the
dozens offered for Ronald Reagan and the U.S. Declaration of Independence.

Returning to Schwarzkopf’s birth certificate time of 4:45 A.M. EDT, we can note that P Moon is on P Saturn on the date of the official cease
fire just ending a trine to Jupiter which neatly covered the six weeks of the
war. Talk about destiny! But the aspects to come in the spring and early
summer of 1991 are very mixed, including a conjunction with natal Saturn which
sets off the cardinal cross with a P Moon opposition to Mercury and a quincunx
to the East Point, Mars and Pluto. The P Moon will also trine Vesta and P Sun
and later the Antivertex, sextile the MC and oppose natal Sun and P Mars, and
move into Pisces and the eighth house in October 1991. I am sure that Schwarzkopf
will handle the challenges, but the chart suggests that our military action is
not finished despite the formal cease fire on February 28. P Mars was conjunct
natal Sun and trine the MC when Schwarzkopf was appointed Commander of the
Coalition forces, though the aspects are now past the one-degree orb. His
close natal Sun-MC trine is a lifetime aspect since I progress the MC by the
solar arc, moving it the same distance the P Sun has moved. Schwarzkopf’s P
Ascendant and P East Point at 24 and 22 Virgo are setting off his numerous
factors ranging from 22 to 24 degrees in many signs, adding further support to
the network of aspects which fit his sudden fame and intense war experience
that certainly affected the world. His P Sun is also on Vesta (devotion to
duty) and it started a trine to natal Saturn in early November to complete a
grand trine with P MC as Bush beefed up the U.S. forces in the Near East and planned for the war. Of course, that put the P Sun in a square to the East Point and Mars just in time for the war. P Vesta was approaching 22 Scorpio so it
also contributed to the powerful network of aspects in the current patterns.
Trying to predict the coming details in a person’s life when most of the chart
is involved in such a configuration of aspects is a pretty futile enterprise.
Astrology can make educated guesses, especially if we know how the person has
handled things in the past, but mostly we can just say that the time will be
intense and active.

Of course, there are also lots of asteroid aspects. To
connect Norman to his Commander in Chief, he has P Jupiter on natal George, P
George on P Vesta square P Saturn-P Moon, P Pluto trine natal Herbert and P
Herbert on natal Chaldaea, trine P America, and quincunx P Pallas. P Irakli is
past natal America but it was conjunct it for several years. Schwarzkopf is
said to have foreseen the possibility of a war in the Gulf area as early as
1983. The army prepared for desert warfare some years ago with the appropriate
camouflage for uniforms and vehicles, and they had conveniently prepared a
computer “game plan” for getting supplies to the area. P Irakli is now
approaching an opposition to natal Arabia suggesting that Schwarzkopf may
remain involved in continuing tension between the two countries. U.S. leaders have now acknowledged that a permanent base in the Near East is being considered though
they deny plans to keep a sizable ground force there. I quoted a financial
newsletter which said in the early fall of 1990 that a permanent base there to
protect “our oil needs” had been a U.S. goal for years. The war provided the
opportunity. In Schwarzkopf’s chart, P Arabia has held a long opposition to
natal East Point-Mars-Pluto. It was also conjunct the Moon and square P Vesta
for years and P Sun is now moving in to join the cardinal T-square.

Another T-square was formed in the natal chart by Hephaistos
at 24 Taurus squaring Mercury and Saturn. If we use the midpoint of Atlantis
at 22 Scorpio and Herbert at 26 Scorpio, it completes a fixed grand cross.
Hephaistos was the artisan who created the weapons of the Gods of Olympus in
Greek mythology. P Hephaistos is conjunct natal Pallas. P Potomac (the river
in Washington, DC) is on P Chaldaea with both on the Galactic Center and quincunx P Pluto. P Sun is approaching a conjunction to P Winchester, again
suggesting that the focus on guns has not ended. P Winchester will maintain
its square to P Pluto for years. But the success was there for our leaders
with P Washington trine P Venus, P America trine P Anubis (Egyptian god of the
underworld and death) which was on Chaldaea (Iraq’s ancient name), and P Chiron
trine natal Winchester.

There are literally dozens more asteroids which could be
mentioned, including Ra-Shalom (named for the Camp David peace effort which
produced the treaty between Egypt and Israel) on Schwarzkopf’s natal MC and P
Icarus (who over-reached and crashed) opposite MC-Ra-Shalom. Can we read that
as a suggestion that his destiny includes a further development of the
Arab-Israeli peace process that was started by President Carter? Or is Icarus
telling us that it is an impossible dream at this time? Schwarzkopf’s MC in Baghdad is 23 Leo 18, just over a degree from his natal Mercury and opposite the midpoint
of his natal and progressed Saturn. His P Moon will oppose it during April and
May, so maybe he will be able to leave the country or maybe he will just have a
tremendous impact on the people of the country. His P Mercury is on his
Baghdad Ascendant. His Part of Death there is on his natal Winchester within
two minutes of longitude! Natal Mercury was trine Gaea, the earth, conjunct
Bradley (the name of one of the fighting military vehicles) and P Dionysius has
joined them. Dionysius, along with Osiris and Orpheus, are the asteroids I
looked at in trying to decide whether Iraq was in danger of being dismembered.
But even when they are prominent, it might just mean the threat of the action
which is certainly there as the civil war continues. Schwarzkopf has a triple
conjunction in 20 + Sagittarius of P Makhaon (healing or the need for it), P
Atlantis (often a key to the abuse of power) and P Achilles (a brutal fighter
in the Trojan War) with all of them opposite natal Osiris at 21 Gemini. P
Osiris is octile Mercury and Hephaistos, trioctile Saturn, and square Winchester. Schwarzkopf’s Baghdad P Ascendant is conjunct natal Orpheus and P Orpheus is
approaching an opposition to natal America while his Baghdad P East Point will
soon conjunct P Orpheus.

To summarize (omitting the new asteroids), the picture we
get from the chart shows a strong, innovative leader (Uranus on the Aries MC
trine the first house Leo), dealing with power issues (Mars as personal power
on the East Point which is like Mars and on Pluto where we learn to share
power, with squares to Libra reinforcing the challenge of integrating personal
rights with the rights of others). A high value placed on work is likely to
produce success (Vesta on Jupiter), and a high value placed on marriage (Juno
in Sagittarius) can encourage mutual efforts to make it a good one provided we
avoid the danger of expecting it to be perfect and never being satisfied. He
seems to have seen his father as a friend though sometimes distant due to work
pressures (Saturn in Aquarius opposite the Mercury-Sun). He is, himself, a
good teacher with the nodes in Leo-Aquarius, and he has the almost universal
challenge of needing to integrate ideals and the limits of the ordinary world,
shown by a square between Chiron and Neptune (which symbolize ideals) in the
Mercury signs (for the everyday world). The Moon in Capricorn fits his move to
a top executive position in his field as well as a life of public service.

As I’m sure everyone knows, the politicians are already
looking at Schwarzkopf as future Presidential material, and the Democrats and
Republicans are already wondering who can corral him as a sure winner. He is
currently saying that he has no interest in politics, but fame and power are
heady temptations. Past successful generals who have been elected President of
the U.S. (regardless of personal qualifications) include Washington, Jackson,
W.H. Harrison, Taylor, Grant, Teddy Roosevelt (though he was not really a
career military man), and Eisenhower. Schwarzkopf’s aspects in late 1996 are
strong enough to make politics a real possibility. His P Sun will have just
crossed his birthplace IC (remember it is natally trine the MC) and it will be
just about to finish a sextile to natal Sun. The entry into the fourth house
of the chart could indicate retirement to spend more time at home, or it could
mean that his personal power will have a major effect on our land and people.
P Sun will also oppose P Uranus with P Uranus still trine natal Sun. In the
late spring of 1997, P Sun will enter Scorpio and all of the angles will move
into new signs; P MC into Cancer and P Ascendant, P East Point, and P
Antivertex into Libra. Cancer is especially associated with our country and
Libra with politics. A major life change of some sort is certainly suggested.
P Pallas (our political asteroid which is in Schwarzkopf’s tenth house of
career) holds a long trine to Neptune. P Moon will conjunct P Pallas for the
election in November 1996 and it will move to conjunct natal Pallas for the
inauguration in January 1997. P Venus will be conjunct Vesta and trine the
midpoint of natal and P Saturn for great success in his career. P Mercury,
ruling the few degrees of Gemini in the tenth career house, stations and goes
retrograde in February 1996, another indication of a change in the life. P
Mars holds a sextile to P Jupiter into 1997. And by 1999 to 2000, P Sun
reaches P Jupiter, P Venus sextiles natal Sun, and Saturn stations to go
direct. The U.S. has been looking for a hero. Bush is currently basking in
his triumph but if the Near East continues in a state of turmoil and the
domestic problems remain intractable, the glow may not last. Schwarzkopf may
keep his aura longer.

P.S. The newest batch of asteroids which was just
calculated and added to our collection includes one called Normannia. As was
customary for years, the astronomers (who discover the asteroids and choose
their names) added the “ia” to the name Norman to “feminize” it. Before the
recent rise of women’s liberation activity, the astronomical custom was to give
“feminine” names to asteroids with “ordinary” orbits, adding an “a” or “ia”
when the asteroids were named for men. Asteroids with “unusual” orbits were
given “masculine” names. This policy has been discontinued in recent years,
and for the earlier asteroids I often just drop the added letter(s) to show
clearly the source of the name. Herbert, for instance is actually Herberta, George
is actually Georgia, and Washington is Washingtonia. We are about to acquire a
new asteroid named George so I will have to use the full name Georgia to differentiate between the two.

Norman Schwarzkopf had natal Norman at 0 Cancer 12. His P
Ascendant in Baghdad (as mentioned earlier) was 0 Capricorn 29 at the
cease-fire, so for at least a year, his name asteroid has been on the P
Descendant in Baghdad, the house of partners or open enemies and conflict. P
Norman stays in 9 Cancer through the whole decade of the 1990s and may station
in that degree. It is thus holding octiles or trioctiles to the fixed
cross—everything at 24 degrees of the fixed signs: Hephaistos (the weapons
creator) in the tenth house, Mercury ruling the tenth and in the first house,
and Saturn in the seventh house. It also remains at the midpoint of
Chiron/Ascendant-north lunar node. Issues over the use of power will certainly
remain prominent in the life of Norman Schwarzkopf. If he does become
president of the U.S., his “war” may involve the economy, debt, and the growing
disparity of wealth which continues to eat at the foundations of our prosperity
like termites dismantling the foundations of a house. (Even Schwarzkopf’s
initials echo the message in my interpretation of the parallels between
astrology and numerology. I see number 8 [for his initial H] as similar to
Scorpio; number 5 for the letter N as similar to Leo; number 1 for the letter S
as similar to Aries.)

A recent interview with Schwarzkopf quotes him as having
been willing to destroy the rest of the Iraqi army (which is now putting down
the rebellions against Saddam). Schwarzkopf commented that Hannibal was one of
his military heroes. In 216 B.C., the Carthaginian general encircled and
destroyed a Roman army at Cannae. The asteroid Hannibal had progressed to 29
Gemini 12 at the cease fire, just reaching the allowed one-degree orb to Norman in Schwarzkopf’s chart, signaling his identification with Hannibal at that time. P
Washington is slowly retrograding over natal Hannibal as Bush in Washington, DC called off the modern Hannibal. Schwarzkopf said historians would
second-guess Bush forever about that decision to stop the battle and leave open
passages for the Republican Guard to escape and regroup. Some allies are
complaining that the U.S. did not destroy the Guard, but Schwarzkopf praised
Bush for his courage in making the humane decision to stop the slaughter.

The outcome shows the moral quagmire that is a part of
life. Was it right to stop slaughtering Iraqi soldiers so they could slaughter
their own civilians to maintain Saddam in power? Bush encouraged the rebellion
because he wants Saddam to be personally overthrown, but he still wants a
military government in Iraq to avoid control by the Shiites (who might join
with Iran and threaten the Sunni-controlled Gulf countries) or too much
autonomy for the Kurds who might encourage their fellow Kurds in Turkey to join them in seeking more autonomy. Who decides what is moral once battle has
been joined? When a cardinal and fixed power struggle is underway, the mutable
issues of reason and ethics are apt to be lost in the struggle.

Our space has run out, so the next Asteroid-World
will have more material on the Near East situation and on Russia.